During the manufacturing of certain products, the articles being processed may be transported from one delivery point or workstation to another workstation along a horizontal conveyor. In instances where the article is an elongated part, the article is generally laid on the conveyor in a horizontal position such that a longitudinally extending side of the article contacts the conveyor surface. When the article reaches the workstation, a transfer device or lifter is generally required to move the article from the conveyor and reorientate the article for proper alignment and processing at the workstation.
In some instances it is necessary to maintain the article on one lateral end so that a longitudinally extending side extends outwardly from the conveyor. In addition, some of these articles are not compatible with conventional gravity loaders or pallet stacker loaders. In these cases, a transfer device or lifter is again required to move the elongated article in the vertical direction away from the conveyor before moving the article horizontally toward the workstation. In both cases, the transfer device or lifter will employ a cylinder and piston mechanism to activate the movement of the transfer device or lifter.
It is therefore desirable to provide a holding means on the conveyor that is configured to hold an article by one lateral end and also allowing a gripper tool to unload the article from the holding means with a pivoting movement only. As a result, the cylinder and piston mechanism can be eliminated. It is further desirable to provide an article holding means for a conveyor that is cost effective and easily secured to the conveyor. It is also desirable to provide an article holder that is configured to not distort or be damaged by continuous angular unloading of the article.